Thursday, May 16, 2013

Pulled Chicken with Cole Slaw

This meal is ALWAYS a hit. Got a bunch of people with varying tastes? Serve this! I'm telling you, everyone acts amazed at how great this is and asks me how to do it...and it's simple! I tagged this as a three ingredient dinner...and that's pushing it, but it basically is.

When I make this I always buy the big package of boneless chicken breasts. If there's no "big" package then get a few 2 packs of them. I usually try to do one breast per person (hardy, har, har), but usually I have big time leftovers. Which, is a good thing around here. The chicken reheats beautifully and I use it for Todd's lunch or my lunch during the work weak.

Throw the chicken in the crock pot with a cup or two (I'm not an exact-o cooker all of the time) of chicken broth. If you don't like using chicken broth you can add plain water and fancy it up with some garlic salt and a little pepper. I do that when we're out of stock. Cook the chicken on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours. At that point the chicken will be cooked through and you can break it into chunks. No need to "shred" it quite yet. Add in a bottle of your favorite wing sauce. Any will do... but I usually use Frank's Red Hot in mild. It's still got some kick, but if you have someone who can't hang with the heat it's not too bad. If you want NO heat you can use honey BBQ sauce, it's still delicious.

**Note...there are also recipes online to make your own BBQ sauce. I've done this before and it's super yummy, but takes more time...and that was before I had a baby girl to keep up with.**

Let the chicken cook a bit longer. You really can't mess up chicken in a crock pot, I promise. Once the wing sauce has time to cook in, get to shredding. I always get Todd to do this part for me... it's a bit of a pain to get it exactly right. He's the master of it.

While Todd's shredding I make the coleslaw. By I make the coleslaw I mean I add the mayo and vinegar to the bag of coleslaw mix. You can make your own, too. I have an amazing recipe for coleslaw from my Mother in law that I'll post someday...

For the buns the best are the King's Hawaiian rolls. They are a bit pricey, but taste soooo dang good. If you opt for regular hamburger buns it's good to get the harder rolls in the bakery.

Sooo good... what is it about these!?

I serve these with the slaw right on the roll with the shredded chicken. I think it's the only way, but I love coleslaw (something my Grandmother did to me), so I'll eat it on the side, too. Other good sides are a big salad, chips, veggie chips, fries, & onion rings. No pics of the actual sammys because when they came out, we scarfed them... whoops.

Our Favorite Picks for Chips!

What you need...

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 bottle of wing (or BBQ sauce)

1 package of rolls

1 bag of coleslaw

1 bag of chips (or fries, onion rings, potato salad, etc.)

Get it done...

Cook the chicken on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours. Break into large chunks once cooked through. Add wing sauce. Cook another 20-30, or 45 mins. Shred chicken.